Of Auror Training and Creature Hunting
by Lily MJ Fae
Summary: This will (hopefully) be a collection of Oneshots for the OTP challenge in Hogwarts featuring Harry and Luna. Round 1: Harry and Luna find out they are soulmates in a very public way amongst their Friends.


_**A/N:** This is for round one of the OTP challenge at Hogwarts. I am writing for Harry/Luna because somebody beat me to my OTP. (But that doesn't mean they can't play a part in this fic). Round one was to write a trope. I chose Soulmate AU, because I am a sucker for soulmates._

 _Final word count: 1914_

* * *

Luna had thoroughly enjoyed her year traveling and searching for the magical creatures waiting for her to find them. She and her father had traveled for a year. After the war, it felt free. But they returned, her father disenhearted after they hadn't found any signs of a crumple-horned snorkack. Luna hadn't given up, she just knew that it was time to return.

After a month of cleaning their home and tending their garden, Luna finally left their house. A part of the reason Luna hadn't minded staying gone so long, was because she had turned 17 right after the war, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to risk meeting her soulmate. She wasn't sure she was ready for that commitment. Even at 18, she wasn't sure she wanted to reenter civilization and risk meeting her soulmate. She had started receiving bruises and scratches constantly, and couldn't help but wonder what her soulmate was up to.

That morning, she woke up as a long scratch appeared on the length of her forearm. She cursed her soulmate in her mind and went to the bathroom where she had begun keeping a large supply of healing salve. She knew that it would help whoever was on the other side, and had decided to let them suffer. She wondered what they would think.

She'd spent the day in Diagon Alley. It had been a lovely, quiet day. And she smiled as she saw Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes still up and running and apparently doing well. She went inside and smiled at the chaos. George was the only man who could get away with having a shop in complete disarray and still succeed on every level.

She made her way to the back of the store, just interested in looking at the many wonders and pranks.

"That's a nasty scratch," a voice came from behind her.

She turned to see George and smiled. "Yes, it seems that my soulmate has been even more adventurous than I have been."

George suddenly grinned even wider. "I would have thought you'd have healed it."

"I have been. The others are gone. But I decided I was tired of being woken up by them. So, they're being punished until I go home."

"Oh, I see."

Luna cocked her head at George. He was grinning like he knew something that she didn't. But she decided not to ask. "How's business then?"

"Booming. I almost didn't keep it up and running, but, it would have been a dishonor to Fred."

"I think that he'd have come back to haunt you until you opened up again."

"I think you're right."

They stood there a moment, an awkward silence between two people who hadn't spoken much before.

"By the way," George said, that suspicious smile returning, "I'm throwing a dinner party tonight. Harry, and Hermione and a few others will be there. You should come too."

"I would love to."

"Great. And by the way, leave the scratch. I bet they'd love to hear about your daredevil soulmate."

Luna smiled and made her way out of the store.

* * *

She wasn't used to the stares that her friends gave her as she walked into the room. She was used to them when it was looks of confusion, or polite curiosity about whatever she wore. But today she had chosen a very simple and plain ice blue dress. And her friends were staring in shock.

Harry though, smiled at her. "Hey, Luna."

"Hi, Harry."

"You look stunning."

Her face heated and she knew that she was blushing.

Hermione noticed the scratch on her arm. "What happened there?"

Luna looked down, having almost forgotten its existence. "Oh. My soulmate. They seem to be a daredevil or something."

But Harry had gone silent, his jaw hanging. Luna cocked her head at him until she saw the bandage on his own arm.

George was grinning again. "I knew it! You all owe me five galleons."

"How in Merlin's name did you know?" Hermione demanded as she opened her purse.

"Oh, just because Luna here came into the shop today and had the exact same scratch that Harry has."

Luna was still staring at Harry's arm. Except for the part where Ginny was actually glaring.

"Hold on," she said. "It could be a coincidence. I have my salve with me. If mine heals and his doesn't, then you owe them all five galleons."

It's not that she didn't want Harry to be her soulmate. In fact, she liked that idea more than she'd ever admit. It's just that she didn't want her friend to be hurt, even if it wasn't actually her fault.

The others all agreed to the test and George scowled, playfully. He clearly wasn't worried at all.

Everyone gathered around the table and Luna pulled her salve out of the small purse she had brought with her.

Her heart was beating fast in her chest as she understood now exactly why George had been grinning earlier and why he had invited her. She'd have rather found out about her soulmate in a more personal setting, and not had money staked on it.

Harry sat next to her and whispered, "We don't have to do this. Not here, not now."

Luna looked at Ginny, who looked more hurt than angry now, and then back to Harry. "I think we do."

His eyes gave her a silent apology before he looked at Ginny. Luna took a breath and dipped her finger into the salve before rubbing it on her arm. Immediately she felt a cool, stinging sensation as her skin started to slowly knit itself back together.

She didn't have to look at Harry's now unbandaged arm to know that his was doing the same thing, as the gasps around her told her enough.

In all her dreams, as much as she had hoped, she never let herself consider the fact that he could be her soulmate. But a piece of her always knew. A piece of her always knew what he was to her. They were drawn together.

She couldn't do it. She could face them. And so, she disapparated. Only to just outside the door, but she couldn't face them. And then she walked up the stairs towards the roof.

She wasn't sure how long she was up there before she heard footsteps. She just continued to stare up at the stars as they sat down next to her.

"Ginny and I already knew we weren't soulmates," Harry said, his voice as sweet and gentle as it had always been with her. "She's actually met hers. A player for the Wanderers. I thought it was dreadfully ironic. They found out though when one of their chasers fell from her broom and broke her wrist, and Ginny's wrist broke."

Luna finally looked at Harry, so see him giving her a little half smile. "See, Ginny, wasn't ready to face her soulmate, so she's been avoiding her. She claims that she wanted to wait until I found mine, but we both knew it was a lie. She's spent the last few months trying to get me to go out with her again. But I couldn't. I'm not in love with her, and I didn't want to lead her on."

"She's my friend," Luna said, her voice soft and quiet. "I don't want to hurt her."

"She's not mad at you. She's not even hurt. She doesn't blame you at all. She's mad at herself, for getting attached."

Luna looked into Harry's eyes, his kind loving eyes and gave him a small smile.

"Besides, this was nothing compared to Hermione finding her soulmate."

"Oh?"

"She almost died."

Luna's eyes went wide in fear and horror. "How?"

Harry placed a reassuring hand on hers, and smiled. "It's actually the reason Snape is still alive." Luna's eyes went wide. "See, when we saw him get attacked, we almost had a problem as the bite marks appeared on Hermione because if we made any noise we could have been revealed. I still don't know how we managed it. But she had essence of dittany in her bag and we used that to heal the wounds. Fortunately, toxins don't transfer between soulmates. We might have really been lost. But we got what we needed from Snape and she stayed behind to save him. Ron was…furious. The two of them had finally kissed and then that happened."

"Poor, Ron."

"Yeah, but we always knew they weren't soulmates either."

"Still, I can imagine the hurt."

They sat for a moment and Luna looked back to the stars, Harry following her gaze.

"My father always told me that the stars were lightning bugs that flew too high and got stuck," Luna mused. "I used to cry because I wanted to help them."

"I used to wonder if I could jump to moon. I once jumped a building, and I wondered if I could escape to the moon."

"How did you jump a building?"

"I was being chased by these boys at school, and I moved to jump into a trash can to hide and I ended up on the roof. It was a bit of accidental magic before I came here. At the time, I had no idea what it was. Magic was the only word at the time I could think of to describe it, but my aunt and uncle practically ripped my throat out every time I said that word."

"They sound awful."

"In many ways, they were. My cousin is a lot better. And my aunt seems to have sympathized a little. My uncle though, he's a bit stuck."

Luna stopped staring at the stars and looked at Harry, to find he was already staring at her. "What do we do now?"

"Whatever you want," he told her. "We don't have to be anything if you don't want. We can go our separate ways and love other people. We can leave right now and not deal with them. We can wait a little while. It's up to you."

"I think I'd like to be with our friends. But I don't want to talk about it. Not with them, not tonight."

Harry stood up and offered a hand to help her up, "I think we can manage that."

She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. Their eyes locked for a moment.

"Do you think-would it be okay-could I kiss you?" he managed to ask.

Luna's heart stopped in her chest and her breath escaped her lungs. She couldn't find the words to speak so she nodded. She'd always wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

He smiled and placed a hand on her cheek. His lips were soft and sweet. And she felt a jolt through her body as they kissed. Her head felt light and empty, as if wrackspurts were nearby. But there weren't any. It was just Harry and her.

And then the kiss was over and he smiled at her. He offered a hand, if she wanted to take it. And she did, until they got to the door, where she just didn't want to hurt Ginny any further.

Harry told them all to shut their mouths about the topic and the evening was spent enjoying food and playing games and exchanging life stories. Luna felt like she belonged. After so long of wondering whether or not she did, she knew now that she would always belong.


End file.
